Ability to Move

“Methinks that the moment my legs began to move, my thoughts began to flow…Only while we are in action is the circulation perfect.”

Henry David Thoreau ( 1817 – 1862)

My nine-year-old son is in full-swing wrestling season. While this is his 5th, he is still learning some very basic wrestling concepts. Techniques and holds can be taught and learned. However, there are a few things a wrestler needs to learn that cannot be taught.

As I looked over some of my more recent emails, I noticed some similarities in these “learned but not taught” skills and running a business. Just like a wrestler, a business must master:

Balance

Leverage

Strength

Ability to Move

And most importantly:

Determination

I recently talked about Balance and Leverage. How is your ability to move?

Some wrestlers are not the most technical in their execution or graceful in their motion. They are just great “scrappers.” They intrinsically know how to move and they move quickly.

Strategy and planning are critical to your business success. But plans are useless without motion. Moving on an unexpected opportunity or being able to fend off and recover from surprise adversity can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Learn to move quickly by practicing these things:

Know your market and your competitors

Know what you do best and apply it

Know what you do worst and keep out of it

Understand your customers’ changing desires

Keep a cash reserve for quick investments or unanticipated liabilities

Develop a personal life-style of learning

My wrestling abilities changed dramatically in 1991 when I learned proper stance and motion. I had already been wrestling for six years, but learning how to move quickly made a bigger difference than any other skill I had learned to that point.